Dear Editor,

I wonder if you would be good enough to check my figures?

In 2022, I took out my car insurance policy with Aviva at a cost of £494.

In 2023, I renewed the policy at a cost of £584 as the other quotes I found were comparable, hence an increase of 18.2%

This year, Aviva want a whopping £788, which I calculate to be an increase of 34.87 per cent on last year!

Nothing has changed since last year, except that both I and my car are simply one year older.

I’ve shopped around and obtained a similar level of cover from a reputable broker and underwriter for £632 which is still 8.2 per cent more than last year.

Aviva are ostensibly very honest and tell me that their reason for the whopping 34.87 per cent increase is the following:

“Over the past year, insurance prices have gone up across the UK. Various factors have played a role in this, such as a shortage of parts, materials, and workers, which has led to price increases. This coupled with the European energy crisis has driven up inflation in the UK.”

This is all very well, but the various statistics used for UK inflation for November 2023 range from 3.9 per cent (CPI – Consumer Price Index) to 5.3 per cent (OOH – Owner Occupier Housing Costs) according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

I think that if the UK’s service industries and financial services are increasing prices by a minimum of double the ONS inflation rate to more than six times the rate, then somebody’s statistics are not telling us the truth.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Bateson

[Smells like Brexit…Ed]

If readers would like to share their experiences, please email editor@westcountryvoices.co.uk . We fear these hikes mean more illegal, uninsured vehicles on the road. Not good news for anyone.